Transportation projects must comply with federal regulations governing the method and requirements for protecting and managing ecological resources. TxDOT designed the following tools for environmental practitioners to use to meet these compliance obligations.

Questions? Contact Ecological Resources staff at (512) 416-2661.

Title

Date

Description

Format

Environmental Handbook: Ecological Resources

07/15

Provides a regulatory background for compliance with federal regulations, except for the Endangered Species Act

Environmental Handbook: Endangered Species Act

08/15

Provides a regulatory background on compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 and consideration of the protection and management of imperiled species and their ecosystems

Provides procedures to TxDOT Districts for determining if a project will affect a federally listed species and/or their habitat. It also provides the current procedures for requesting technical assistance and Section 7 consultation services from the USFWS.

Documentation Standard for Biological Assessment or a Biological Evaluation

08/15

Use by project sponsors preparing a Biological Assessment (BA) for informal consultation or a Biological Evaluation (BE) for informal consultation with the USFWS.

Tier I Site Assessment

11/16

A fillable smart-form that covers the Texas Parks and Wildlife Analysis for a project (formerly this form was incorporated into the Biological Evaluation Form).

Biological Evaluation Form

08/15

A fillable PDF form that generates the applicable biological resource specific questions depending on county selection and funding source and documents the minimum standard for compliance. The TPWD Analysis Form, which includes the Tier I Site Assessment, is incorporated into the BioEval Form.

The purpose of this standard operating procedure (SOP) is to provide a procedure to TxDOT districts (districts) and Environmental Affairs Division (ENV) staff for developing a Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) Issues Report and reporting MBTA issues or suspected violations on TxDOT projects to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The purpose of this MOU is to define the process for coordinating transportation projects with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to facilitate the protection of the natural environment. It is found in Title 43, Part 1, Chapter 2, Subchapter G of the Texas Administrative Code.

TPWD MOU Best Management Practices Programmatic Agreement (PA)

04/14

Defines the best management practices that TxDOT and TPWD have agreed will result in avoidance and minimization of potential impacts to natural resources and can eliminate the need for coordination of projects with TPWD for the species with best management practices

TPWD MOU Threshold Table PA

04/14

Defines the thresholds to determine if an area and type of potential impact from a transportation project triggers a need to coordinate the project with TPWD, while other coordination triggers for coordination are identified in the biological evaluation form

TPWD MOU Tier II Site Assessments PA

04/14

Outlines the information TPWD requires to initiate administrated coordination between TPWD and TxDOT under the 2013 MOU